Moshe Feinstein

He has been called the most famous Orthodox Jewish legal authority of the twentieth century and his rulings are often referenced in contemporary rabbinic literature. Feinstein served as president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, Chairman of the Council of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of the Agudath Israel of America, and head of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in New York.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein at his desk in the bais medrash of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem.
Born	(1895-03-03)March 3, 1895 Uzda, Minsk Governorate, Russian Empire (now Belarus)
Died	March 23, 1986(1986-03-23) (aged 91) New York City, United States
Resting place	Har HaMenuchot, West Jerusalem 31°48′00″N 35°11′00″E / 31.8°N 35.183333°E / 31.8; 35.183333
Other names	Rav Moshe, Reb Moshe
Occupation(s)	Rabbi, Posek
Employer	Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem
Known for	Igros Moshe, various rulings in Jewish law
Spouse	Shima Kustanovitch
Children	Pesach Chaim Feinstein Dovid Feinstein Reuven Feinstein Shifra Tendler Faye Shisgal

Feinstein is commonly referred to simply as "Reb Moshe" (or "Rav Moshe").

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein was born, according to the Hebrew calendar, on Adar 7, 5655 (traditionally the date of birth and death of the biblical Moshe, the reason that he was given his name), in Uzda, near Minsk, Belarus (then part of the Russian Empire). His father, Rabbi David Feinstein, was the rabbi of Uzda and a great-grandson of the Vilna Gaon's brother. David Feinstein's father, Rabbi Yechiel Michel Feinstein, was a Koidanover Chassid. His mother was a descendant of talmudist Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, the Shlah HaKadosh, and Rashi. He studied with his father and in yeshivas located in Slutsk, under Pesach Pruskin, and Shklov. He also had a close relationship with his uncle, Yaakov Kantrowitz, rabbi of Timkovichi, whom he greatly revered and considered his mentor. For the rest of his life, Feinstein considered Pruskin as his rebbe.

Feinstein was appointed rabbi of Lyuban, where he served for sixteen years. He married Shima Kustanovich in 1920 and had four children (Pesach Chaim, Fay Gittel, Shifra, and David) before leaving Europe. Pesach Chaim died in Europe, and another son, Reuven, was born in the United States. Under increasing pressure from the Soviet regime, he moved with his family to New York City in January 1937, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Settling on the Lower East Side, he became the rosh yeshiva of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem. He later established a branch of the yeshiva in Staten Island, New York, now headed by his son Reuven Feinstein. His son Dovid Feinstein headed the Manhattan branch.

He was president of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, and chaired the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America from the 1960s until his death. Feinstein also took an active leadership role in Israel's Chinuch Atzmai.

Feinstein was recognized by many as the preeminent halachic authority (posek) of his generation; ruling on issues of Jewish law as they pertain to modern times. People from around the world called upon him to answer their most complicated halachic questions.

Owing to his prominence as an adjudicator of Jewish law, Feinstein was often asked to rule on very difficult questions, whereupon he often employed a number of innovative and controversial theories in arriving at his decisions. Soon after arriving in the United States, he established a reputation for handling business and labor disputes. For instance, he wrote about strikes, seniority, and fair competition. He later served as the chief Halakhic authority for the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, indicative of his expertise in Jewish medical ethics. In the medical arena, he opposed the early, unsuccessful heart transplants, although it is orally reported that in his later years, he allowed a person to receive a heart transplant (after the medical technique of preventing rejection was improved). On such matters, he often consulted with various scientific experts, including his son-in-law Moshe David Tendler, who was a professor of biology and served as a rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University.

As one of the prominent leaders of American Orthodoxy, Feinstein issued opinions that clearly distanced his community from Conservative and Reform Judaism. He faced intense opposition from Hasidic Orthodoxy on several controversial decisions, such as rulings on artificial insemination and mechitza. In the case of his position not to prohibit cigarette smoking, though he recommended against it and prohibited second-hand smoke, other Orthodox rabbinic authorities disagreed. Even his detractors, while disagreeing with specific rulings, still considered him to be a leading decisor of Jewish law. The first volume of his Igrot Moshe, a voluminous collection of his halachic decisions, was published in 1959.

 

Feinstein died on March 23, 1986 (13th of Adar II, 5746). Over 20,000 people gathered to hear him eulogized in New York before he was flown to Israel for burial. His funeral in Israel was delayed by a day due to mechanical problems with the plane carrying his coffin, which then had to return to New York. His funeral in Israel was said to be attended by between 200,000 and 250,000 people.

Feinstein was buried on Har HaMenuchot near his teacher, Isser Zalman Meltzer.

Feinstein's students included:

• Nisson Alpert, rabbi of Agudath Israel of Long Island, New York
• Avrohom Blumenkrantz (1944–2007), author of The Laws of Pesach
• Shimon Eider posek and author
• Dovid Feinstein, Rosh yeshiva of Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem in New York City, his son
• Reuven Feinstein, Rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva of Staten Island, New York, his son
• Shmuel Fuerst, Dayan (judge of Chicago Rabbinical Council.

• Ephraim Greenblatt, posek
• Nota Greenblatt Av Beis Din (chief judge) of Vaad Hakehilos of Memphis, Tennessee
• Moshe Dovid Tendler (1926-2021), rosh yeshiva (dean) at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, his son-in-law
• Jackie Mason, rabbi and comedian who played Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky on The Simpsons

Feinstein wrote approximately 2,000 responsa on a wide range of issues affecting Jewish practice in the modern era. Some responsa can also be found in his Talmudic commentary (Dibrot Moshe), some circulate informally, and 1,883 responsa were published in Igrot Moshe. Among Feinstein's works:

• Igrot Moshe; (Epistles of Moshe); pronounced Igros Moshe by Yiddish speakers (such as Feinstein); Halachic responsa in 7 volumes published during his lifetime and widely referenced by contemporary halachic authorities. The final, seventh volume was published in two different forms, the resulting variations found in a total of 65 responsa. An additional 2 volumes were published posthumously from manuscripts and oral dictations that were transcribed by others.
• Dibrot Moshe (Moshe's Words); pronounced Dibros Moshe by Yiddish speakers such as Feinstein himself; a 14 volume work of Talmudic novellae with additional volumes being published by the Feinstein Foundation and being coordinated by his grandson, Mordecai Tendler.
• Darash Moshe (Moshe Expounds, a reference to Leviticus 10:16), a posthumously published volume of novellae on the weekly synagogue Torah reading. [Artscroll subsequently translated this as a two-volume English work.]
• Kol Ram (High Voice); 3 volumes, printed in his lifetime by Avraham Fishelis, the director of his yeshiva.

Some of Feinstein's early works, including a commentary on the Jerusalem Talmud, were lost in Communist Russia, though his first writings are being prepared for publication by the Feinstein Foundation.

Feinstein is known for writing, in a number of places, that certain statements by prominent rishonim which Feinstein found theologically objectionable were not in fact written by those rishonim, but rather inserted into the text by erring students. According to Rav Dovid Cohen of Brooklyn, Feinstein attributed such comments to students as a way of politely rejecting statements by rishonim while still retaining full reverence for them as religious leaders of earlier generations.